The Eleventh Edition of the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks under the Nice Agreement (Nice Classification) has been officially adopted in Saudi Arabia as a replacement to the 10th Edition which did not include the most recent updates and additions of new goods and services.
Saudi Authority for Intellectual property “SAIP” e-platform provides a pre-approved list of goods/services and no longer allows a claim of class headings in combination with all the items in the class. Applicants can either file the trademark application by claiming all the class headings or claim specific items that are available on the portal, but not the combination of both.
SAIP follows the list strictly and refuses to accept any additional goods/services not identified in either the class heading or the alphabetical list.
It is noteworthy that there are some terms that are not included in the pre-approved list and remain not allowed to be registered in Saudi Arabia such as Class 33 (alcoholic beverages), alcoholic goods in Class 32, pork in Class 29, and Christmas trees in Class 28.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.